Appreciate the points. Just wanted to voice my impression, that your background music was at times at the same audio level as your voice which makes it hard to understand as I am not a native. When the music was off your audio was great. And I am listening on my stereo set.

So glad to see you here in this platform, thanks for sharing so many golden nuggets and definitely its a honor to learn from the best!

Thank you very much for your professional sharing, it is very helpful to me and allows me to be more professional in image creation.

While there are plenty of tutorials on hiding "traditional" wireless VHF lavs and packs. I don't see many hiding the newer Bluetooth-style mics as you show. Sometimes they can be a vital tool when shooting a documentary and you really don't have the time to say "Hold on while I search for the best frequency and sync transmitter and receiver." The Bluetooth mics pair almost instantly and some even do backup local recordings. Perhaps it's worthwhile doing a tutorial on how to hide one of those new Bluetooth lavs packs (if it's at all possible).

You are so good at this Curren, the only thing that will stop you from getting a million plus subs is you. And when you find yourself struggling in letting your potential come through...find me...all the best

The music note is so true. I've definitely had to grow in dropping music out of certain scenes, and also going with more subtle tones/synths vs always having a "hero" track that is fully composed.

Thanks for the video! One of the hardest things -- at least in my opinion -- is to get good audio on the fly. And hiding a LAV mic properly is no easy task. It takes a skilled audio tech to make it happen. But, we don't always get to have that luxury. As a suggestion, maybe do a video on mic hiding techniques.

for autofocus, my recommandation is to go hybrid. autofocus is a great way to quickly get a subject as a starter, but I feel it's better if you make ajustements in shots manually. Video camera should have a way to disable constant autofucus while you're filming.

Loved it. I am a photographer but venturing into video. Any and all tips are much appreciated.

So many good points! I just made a short film, and I regret to admit that a couple of these mistakes appeared in it. Thanks for the advice and encouragement to us beginners!

I really enjoyed watching this video. Very helpful. I'm just an amateur hobbyist and will remain so, but there was a lot to learn from this. Thanks for creating it for us.

Maaaate! This is great! For as long as I can remember I wanted to be a filmmaker so yes! Super helpful and I'm gonna fill my boots with your videos!

Just came here to say that I loved Heroin(e) as a fellow documentary filmmaker... and I'm looking forward to learning more from your insights. Keep up the great work.

This was such a great video! I can't wait to see your upcoming series!

We decided to show our lavs for the filming of our show. We wanted to get across the rawness of our paranormal investigation. Showing the lavs helped in this situation. In any other situation i never show the mic.

Great video, on tips that a lot of filmmakers and professional filmmakers don’t know about. With the new lav mic sets from DJI and rode. That I see near enough every decently sized KZfaqr use and DON’T hide it, which massively bugs me, and a lot of them can afford the extra lav attachments. I do agree with you that autofocus is a great tool and I have learnt that it works wonders for interviews on the Eos R and the C70 which is one of my favourite cameras I’ve ever used, my question is that when using a cheaper camera that doesn’t have that good of autofocus like my canon 700d would you recommend using manual focus? Since I’ve mainly got a action sports background and I pretty much use manual for everything since my cameras auto focus is terrible in video.

Visible lav! Yes thank you. So sick of this trend

I'm so glad I watched this. I've been making most of those mistakes lol

This was useful thank you 😢😊

Music is too loud while you are talking..! I'm sorry, it may just be me. I personally don't like music with talking head videos. I understand pulling up the music for "B' roll, but prefer it pulled back to nothing or almost nothing. You are the professional, not me. Just let you know how I feel when watching KZfaq videos. I have clicked away from so many video due to music too loud. Granted I'm older the most watching your videos, just me voicing my concern. Keep on doing what your doing, the info you provide is greatly appreciated..!

Love this video Curren. Thank you for the advice - I have subscribed and look forward to more videos like this one. 🤞👌🙏

I just do animation, but all these tips apply to that as well - thanks for the "just what I needed" video - New Sub!

"we only show about 5-10% of the images we shoot" I feel so vindicated with that statement, I thought it was just me discarding the majority of my footage. 🤣

Thank you for these great tips! Subscribed for more 😊

Great advice, Curren. Keep it up!

You mentioned audio music constantly playing in the background as a mistake, and yet this informative tips video has a constant audio bed running throughout its duration. Does the audio bed enhance the delivery of information? I would say the music is a distraction.

From some of the comments I think perhaps one thing people do is try to find a hard and fast rule out of the things people say. I would contextualize it this way, if you're moving from amateur to professional, the details are important and making sure that everything is your intention is what will matter. Lavs, sure, but if you're going to show them, then that should be a decision. Same with music, I frickin' hate when they pump the music. It comes off like a subtitle: "intense emotion happening, start crying now!" Perhaps something needs music, but moving between diegetic and music allows us space to breath as human beings. Which way too many movies don't allow for these days. Once these choices are natural, then, like most things, learn the rules, then break 'em. Professionalism results from intention.

Great Points Curren Sheldon, so valuable and barely discussed as you point it out. Thank you ! Got a new Sub ✨🤓✨

Many thanks for the great lessons Sir..

Your list of 5 is fine, but overblowing highlights screams nubee more than a few of your 5... IMHO. Unconscious non cinematic camera movement, especially with a gimbal says beginner too. My professional focus is more on shorter 3-6 min features for businesses rather than docs and films, so often wall to wall music works fine...it's more of a problem if the music you select doesn't support the emotion or vibe of the piece..when they use a poor quality track because it's free.... or your shooting does't match the feel of your piece. For example, if you shoot dreamy 120fps and you try to make an edgy film. It's better to decide the feel of your feature, pick the music ahead of time and match the shooting style with the music.Lastly, not balancing your perspectives...some of the older shooters shoot EVERYTHING too close. We live in the world of 4k and 6k so shooting wider and adjusting the composition in post is preferred rather than being stuck with a too tightly composed shot. I realize shooting docs and narratives is swimming in a different pond.. but nubee mistakes are nubee mistakes...

There are instances where having the lav visible is the only option. Yes, it's not ideal, but it happens especially for live events. It would have been nice to hear your solution for this as you did point out exactly the scenario it occurs.

Very helpful!!! Thank you so much!!!

Good advice. A bit funny that rule 3 (Audio) is violated in this video. The loud music make it hard to hear the dialogue.

Thank you for making this video.

Incredible tips. Speaking of lavs, what would be some easy ways to hide them?

Thank you! Good stuff. Greets from Austria.

Thanks for sharing. Have a question about lighting choice. Why did you choose to light from camera left in your PTC shot rather than light from camera right using the window behind you as motivation. I’m asking because the shot looks good but I think I would have chosen differently so trying to understand where my thinking may have gone wrong.

Thanks for shairing!

Ok you got me.🎉Thank You

The 180 Rule.

Hi, as always great video. Thanks for sharing. A while ago I seem to remember you mentioned a Mamiya lens that you felt may be one to look out for. I can't seem to remember where you mentioned that. Do you remember what lens it was? Thanks for all your wonderful advice.

Excellent - great work as ever! visible Lav.. thats me all over and ive been shooting for 20 years! No excuse and Mark Bone says the same thing repeatedly. I will sort this I promis. Now a quick gear question: at 0:49 there is some sort of collapsable diffuser panel attached to something... please could you share that kit? I can see it being exceptionally useful for some of my mobile setups

Great tips - I'm pretty much good on these but my boo boo here is the lav. I know it already, I'm just lazy on that one item. I remember watching prison break years ago and seeing the lav leads under their shirt. Very poor, totally kills the moment (lots of other stuff in teh story did the same after season one too!) I enjoyed this video a lot thanks °¬)

Aamazing thank you

putting the key on the opposite side from the natural motivation?

Drink a shot every time he says "Compelling" !

My mistake was to think I could do it myself. Now I produce my short films and let people with talent do the work!

Is having background music louder than dialog an amateur mistake?

Ok im sorry but I was literally watching a Netflix show and a current PBS show and they were using lav's that showed. "Professional" does not determine hiding mics although it's a great technique to do but don't let that stop you from thinking you're not a professional for not hiding it, mistakes happen and sometimes, you simply have NO TIME. Now that one lady with the rope of Lav... yea that was horrid otherwise. Also, the majority is not shooting for no Netflix that everyone seems to go straight too only, not Amazon or Tubi not even Freevee. A documentary is 100% ok for this and you shouldn't be laving if you shooting actual movies anyways, you boom that ish. This wall to wall this... THOUSANDS of movies utilize music front-in between-end. The viewers is going to know how to feel, the music is only there to insinuate the cause, choosing the RIGHT music or selected track will deter them or keep them in their seats. It's not used as a crutch, it's used as a tool for beginners AND professionals. some people especially beginners just tend to not make the right choice in music/tracks like youtubers having ultra loud cinematic tracks obliterating my ears and it's only a 240fps of them panning a camera or something.

Another mistake would be overusing one piece of gear because thats all you know, and not because the shot requires it to serve the story and convey a specific feeling. I see so many beginner filmmakers using a gimbal for every shot - specifically in the wedding videography scene (I specifically used the term videography because most people don't make it to the point of learning everything you just talked about to create wedding films that are audio-visual experiences). It bothers the snot out of me when people say they're just on gimbal all day because "it's faster", when in reality it actually is slower, and it looks terrible. Terrible when you should have a handheld or tripod shot and you're trying to hold something steady with a gimbal and it has a weird robotic look to it.

i have been self learning cinematography and lighting don't have hands on experience . but know theory about staging,camera,lighting,color grading,basic editing, how can i move forward. currently dont have enough confidence plus money to buy a camera . plus i live in a city where majority of productions are being made but don't know how to approach. whereas on instagram many dops are looking for demo reels, porfolio. what should i do.

Good video overall. But amateur KZfaq mistake is taken too long to get to your main content. You take over a minute.

You have made a terrible mistake yourself! You have added som background sound that is terrible! If you are professional, NEVER use background music while talking!

Skip past the blah blah blah video starts at 1:42

First time here. Thinking about making my first short documentary, thank you for the helpful no bs advice. I really appreciate it 🫡